Obama vs. the other guy, 2008

Quick Debate Reaction

So, the political world did not come to an end tonight. Palin was her usual “folksy” self. Clearly not a trainwreck, she however showed absolutely no depth on any of the issues that were discussed. Indeed, she declined to even answer many of the questions from the moderator, and gleefully so. She demonstrated her ability to make snide and sarcastic remarks, but her timing was way off and they fell flat.

Biden I thought was a little shaky during the middle of the debate; I’m not sure he took her all that seriously early on. But I think he righted the ship and really knocked it out of the park at the end. Clearly the moment of the night was his moving comments about his first wife and children, and how he knows the struggle of raising kids alone:

The CNN focus group ratings shot off the chart. Almost as interesting was Palin’s absolutely CLUELESS response to Biden’s story, summarized by Jonathan Martin over at Politico:

He tells his heart-rending story about raising two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident, choking up when alluding to whether one of his boys would make it.

The people, Biden concludes, are “looking for help; they’re not looking for more of the same.”

It was a tough moment to follow, and Palin’s recitation that McCain has been “a maverick” didn’t do it.

So I think the bottom line is that Palin probably shored up her conservative base who were beginning to think about what to do in 2012, and Biden showed off his vast knowledge on the issues (and managed not to make any gaffes or appear condescending/sexist/etc). The bleeding for McCain probably slowed, but there is that pesky economy…

Sure, Palin is telegenic and can deliver a prepared speech – so give her a talk show and she can take on Oprah.

If I want folksy and down-home, I’ll watch a Reba rerun. If I want to hear a well read political speech, I’ll watch C-Span. Sen Biden came out of the debate looking like a statesman. Gov Palin came off like the head of the Wasilla PTA.

We suffered through 9/11 with our doofus president; he bumbled into Iraq, crushed our economy and is leaving the US Treasury completely empty.
To paraphrase Palin, “never again, never again.”

About Strategy ’08

Strategy ’08 is a new blog dedicated to covering issues surrounding the 2008 Presidential Campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. Authors are long-time bloggers and unabashed Barack Obama supporters dansac, slinkerwink, turneresq, zenbowl, smash artist and gdh1 who often post on DailyKos and elsewhere.